Description
Book Synopsis In 1528, the Spanish explorer Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca and his three companions were shipwrecked and, looking for help, began an eight-year trek through the deserts of the American West. Over three centuries later, the four Great Surveys in the United States were consolidated into the U.S. Geological Survey.
The frontiers were the lands near or beyond the recognized international, national, regional, or tribal borders. Over the centuries, they hosted a complicated series of international explorations of lands inhabited by American Indians, Spanish, French-Canadians, British, and Americans. These explorations were undertaken for wide-ranging reasons including geographical, scientific, artistic-literary, and for the growth of the railroad. This history covers over 350 years of exploration of the West.
Table of Contents
- Table of Contents
- Preface 1
- 1. Overview of the North American Frontiers 3
- 2. Goals of the International Rivals 17
- 3. Maritime Explorations 22
- 4. Beginnings of Overland Exploration of the Frontiers 28
- 5. Pathfinding and Exploration-Settlement Expeditions 34
- 6. Life on the Trails 41
- 7. "Runners of the woods" and Other Travelers 48
- 8. To Wait Patiently by Hudson Bay 54
- 9. Taking Great Pains to Get Along with the Indians 61
- 10. Descended from Five Generations of "waryers" [warriors] 68
- 11. A Famous Explorer Follows a "grease trail" to the Pacific Ocean 74
- 12. The Great Lewis and Clark Expedition 80
- 13. "An atlas of the West" 86
- 14. Creating a "fur desert" 94
- 15. How to Hunt Buffalo 100
- 16. Wanting to Become President of the United States 107
- 17. Mountain Man Slang 114
- 18. "Chastise them well" 120
- 19. A Nevada Outlaw Named Slade 126
- 20. The Great Surveys 131
- 21. A Famous Book: The Big Bonanza 137
- 22. Conclusions: Why the Explorations of the North American Frontiers Are So Important 141
- Annotated Chronology, 1492–1879 145
- Appendix 1: The Fur Trade in New France 155
- Appendix 2: Exploration by Canoe: The Coureurs de Bois and the Voyageurs 157
- Appendix 3: The Railroad Surveys 160
- Appendix 4: Early Explorations of the Yellowstone Region, 1797–1871 163
- Chapter Notes 167
- Bibliography 177
- Index 183
